


The Sun and His Signalman

by JewelQueen



Series: A Drabble A Day! [8]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ficlet, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Tony is Hydra, Tony is a Double-Agent, good bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 00:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10865367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JewelQueen/pseuds/JewelQueen
Summary: What if Tony sort of accidentally-on-purpose got tangled up in HYDRA while trying to get revenge, and then got himself way too attached to one handsome Asset?  He's Iron Man, he's supposed to be a hero--He can't just leave him in there!So, might as well become a double agent and spend years starting to take down HYDRA from the inside, right?  But, first things first, he's gotta find a way to save the Winter Soldier.





	The Sun and His Signalman

**Author's Note:**

> This was essentially the by-product of all the Hydra!Steve and other Marvel characters hype going around, and I wanted to fix that with my take on a Hydra!Reveal as well as put a spin on the Mechanic!Tony, I see going around (and love dearly). Right now, it stays a one-shot, but I could be convinced in making it part of a longer series that really explores the intricacies of Tony's relationships in this setting.

Normally, when people called Tony Stark a genius, they were referring to his technical/scientific prowess while at the same time downplaying his people skills. Because, after all, people like him who had an affinity for robotics (and grew up richer than they knew what to do with) couldn’t possibly know how to interact with people in a normal way much less understand what constitutes normal human interaction. Which, to be honest, they would be correct in assuming 99% of the time. He understood machines far better than people, even people within his own field, and had infinitely more patience for them over people (though, it may not always seem like that given the many names and threats he gives to his creations). But there were that 1 % of people he encountered that he knew almost as intimately as the machines and circuitry that he loves.

So, yes, for all his terrible people skills, he knew exactly what this looked like, thank you very much, he just didn’t care.

“Solntse, stand,” Tony commanded, pointing to the spot in front of him, as soon as Steve started making the official introduction to his rehabilitating friend.

“Aw, Svyazist--” Barnes tried, a hesitant look towards Steve. Natasha was the one who looked most on edge; Steve just looked completely confused.

“Solntse!” he barked, a decent-sized part of him delighting in the way Bucky still snapped to attention with the hint of command in his voice, though he kept his face stoic. “Ne zastavlyay menya snova sprashivat,”

_“Do not make me ask again!” The Asset didn’t make a noise when one of the handler’s goons punched him in the stomach, but he did. He wasn’t there for the original creation of the Asset, but he liked to think he played an integral part in its maintenance now and that’s what really mattered. Especially since the Asset seemed to like him best, to begin with. Its eyes sought out his in silent question and he shook his head, content to see how this would play out._

_At least, until the handler snapped his fingers and the goons all gathered to pin it down, paying particular attention to its metal arm. “Kak vy dumayete chto vy delayete?” Tony snarled, stepping forward. They stilled but did not release the Asset. “You will ruin all of my good work!”_

_“Ah, apologies, Mister Stark,” the handler began, false in his politeness and concern. Tony scowled. But he was always treated like this, like the American outsider, even after everything. “But it is crucial that the Asset learns to respond when questioned. A new arm can be made with your skills quite easily, or are you implying that you will not continue your work for Hydra?”_

_He bristled. Always with the microaggressions with these people. “Maybe you just need to apply a softer approach,” he said, not rising to the bait._

_“Be our guest,” the handler said, a sweeping sardonic gesture. Tony blinked, a little surprised that worked, but schooled his look quickly. Straightening out his clothes, he walked up to the Asset, surveyed the agents still holding it aloft and stared into its eyes._

_“Mogu ya?” he asked, reaching a hand out and stopping before he made contact with its cheek. In response, the Asset just pressed its cheek into his hand. “Moye solntse,” he breathed into a kiss on his forehead, not daring to be overheard._

_The Asset’s eyes brightened, and he blinked in code. Tony grinned, not that he had worried that the Asset would forget their little conversations, but nevertheless glad it worked. He did have a special soft spot in his heart for it that came from years of bonding. “Answer the handler’s questions, will you?”_

_He took great delight in the handler’s shocked face when it answered him, “Yes, sir,”_

“Da, ser,” he mumbled, moving stiffly, one could say robot-like, to the specific spot. Tony circled him, inspecting him closely head to toe as he went.

“Do you remember your orders?” he asked.

“Nyet, ser,” Bucky rasped, staring straight ahead.

“Has your arm been compromised?”

“Nyet, ser,” he said, this time unable to stop a slight smirk.

_“Solntse,” Tony crooned, seeing the state of the Asset after being thrown into his workspace on short notice. Inwardly, his heart squeezed at the mess of his face, but he kept his attention of the mangled arm because that’s what he was officially here for. It wouldn’t do to have his sort of co-workers know that he had feelings for the person attached to the machinery, so he stroked the battered plates and sparking wires as he spoke sotto voce to make sure no one else could hear, “Moye krasivoye solntse, tebe bol'no?”_

_“Nyet,” the Asset answered, and then, hesitantly, “Ya skuchal po tebe, svyazist,”_

_Tony swallowed, carefully concealing his shock into anger and grabbing the tools he’d need as he pulled out his stool. He laid out its arm on the table gingerly and got to work reconnecting his imitation-neural-fibers and fixing the shredded wires. “You should be more careful,” he said gruffly._

_“The Asset is only as careful as the mission allows. The Asset has the Mechanic to aid him after for any necessary repairs,”_

_Tony let his eyes shut to savor the moment before diving back in. Working in tandem with HYDRA, even for something as simple as this, had never felt more dangerous. “All things die. Someday I won’t be there for you,”_

_“You will always be the Asset’s Mechanic,” Tony couldn’t help the small smile._

_“Sentiment, Asset. I should report you for reprogramming,”_

_“Da,” it agreed, curling its flesh hand around his throat with an answering smirk. “You should,”_

“Vy gotovy pereprogrammirovat?” Tony asked, coming full-circle in front of him.

Natasha immediately had a gun in her hands, ignoring Steve’s startled cries. “Stark, this has gone far enough, you need to _stand down_!”

“Yes, sir,” he answered, also ignoring the others.

Tony turned slightly to look Natasha in the eye. “If you have ever trusted me, let me do this,” 

Her gun wavered for a full minute before she sighed and let it drop. “I’ll kill you if you make me regret it,”

“You won’t have to as long as you don’t interrupt me until I say it’s finished,” he said, waiting for her reluctant nod before returning all of his attention to his favorite patient. “Gruzovoy vagon,” he began. Bucky flinched slightly. 

“Odin, vozvrashcheniye na rodinu,” His hands clenched at these words, and he started to grit his teeth against the pain. It would only get worse before it got better. He wouldn’t cry out for this weak level of pain. 

“Dobroserdechnyy, devyat, pech,” He broke out into a sweat and squeezed his eyes shut. It was like someone lit a fire inside of him, starting with his head, and burning all his nerves on the way down. He forced himself to endure, only allowing a few ragged breaths to showcase his distress. 

“Rassvet, semnadtsat',” Only two more, just two more left. His body started twitching uncontrollably like his entire body was getting electric shocks. He let himself groan.

“Rzhavyy,” He bit his tongue trying to reign in the desire to scream and fall apart. “Zhelaniye.”

He felt Tony’s hands on him, helping him to the floor as he shivered and spat out the bloody saliva. His muscles were cramping everywhere and everything touching him felt like pins and needles, but it was over. His control switch was deactivated. He was safe again. Even though it hurt, he pawed at Tony, wanting to be close to him and only him in this state. “Svyazist, Svyazist,” he chanted, probably indecipherable.

But Tony understood. He smiled. “No more, Solntse, there’s no need for that anymore,” He cradled Bucky’s head on his chest, waving at his audience. “You’re good; you’re safe now,”

“As heartwarming as this is,” Natasha drawled, only now holstering her weapon. “What the hell was that all about, Stark,”

“Mm,” he hummed, glancing up smugly as Bucky recovered limp and pliant in his arms. “I’m the Mechanic,”

_“The great Tony Stark, what brings you to my humble abode?”_

_Tony flipped his sunglasses off, stepping inside Pierce’s office and taking a seat. “I think you know exactly why I’m here,”_

_“Stane,” Pierce admitted, shutting the door behind them and seating himself with affected sorrow. “I offer my condolences. It must make his betrayal all the more painful--”_

_“Cut the crap, Pierce. I know you had a hand in all that. Stane wouldn’t have the balls to make a hit on me now after all this time if he didn’t think it’d be guaranteed,” he interrupted, tossing around a knick-knack from Pierce’s desk. “He’s going to make his next move soon; I want to make sure mine is in play first,”_

_“Even if I did, quid pro quo, Tony. You’d be asking me to use SHIELD agents as mercenaries when I don’t have any proof that it’d be justified,” he said, leaning his chin on his elbows._

_“Is that what you’re calling it these days? Better, I like it,” Tony placed the glorified paperweight back on the desk and looked Pierce in the eyes. “I’ve got proof. You can make me a consultant or something, as long as it’s not weapons-based. I don’t do that anymore,”_

_“Hmm,” Pierce mused, a thoughtful smirk on his face. “No, but I bet you’d make a great Mechanic. I think you’ve got yourself a deal, mister Stark,”_

_They shook on it._

“What does that mean?” Steve asked, furrowing his brow.

“Oh, you know,” Tony shrugged, saluting indelicately, watching the way both his fellow teammates stiffened at his next words, “Hail Hydra and all that jazz,”

Natasha sucked in a breath. “ _You_ were the SHIELD plant,”

“Mm, never SHIELD, Nat. You know me, I have a problem with authority, and it’s a good thing--what with SHIELD ending up being mostly Hydra agents anyway,” he glanced at Steve. “You holding up there, Cap?”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t really know what to think. It’s a lot to take in--does that make you a spy, as well?”

“Only ever a consultant, Stevie. Even Hydra wouldn’t buy me giving my full allegiance to any one group. Safer to keep me in the dark most of the time, and tell me only what I needed to know to fix Barnes here,” 

He ran his fingers lightly through Bucky’s hair, testing his level of oversensitivity. Bucky barely flinched, so he added a little heavier touch and kept his motions even and smooth. “Luckily for us, I’ve never been good at obeying anything and got my hands on his trigger sequence. From there, it was a simple matter to hack in and plant an undetected subroutine in his programming--one only activated by my voice,”

“The first times hurt like a bitch,” Bucky rasped, leaning into Tony’s touch. Tony hummed and added scratches to his pattern. “But it undid the block on my memories,”

“Took me some time to convince you to play the long game, much less get your trust,” he murmured fondly. “But I needed to keep my cover,”

“Not anymore,” Bucky promised, gripping his hand tight and starting to sit up with a wince. Tony squeezed his hand in return.

“No, not anymore,” he agreed. “So, when you’re ready, I’ve got quite the list compiled on Hydra bases and agents planted in government agencies. Ones not even SHIELD knew about,” he tacked on, addressing Steve and Natasha.

“Oh, I’m more than ready,” Steve grinned, cracking his knuckles.

“Me too,” Bucky said, testing the return of strength to his limbs. Tony rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

“I’ve got no plans,” Natasha said flippantly.

“Good, Jay, call in the rest of the Team. Let’s raze this beast to the ground once and for all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger words were taken from https://im12minutesolderthanyou.tumblr.com/post/143970951144/buckys-trigger-words-in-order and just put in reverse order. Clever, I know.
> 
> Russian translation was mostly through Google Translate though I used a few dictionaries:
> 
> Solntse/Moye solntse - Sun/My sun (replacement for "soldier" and "winter"; Tony thought it would be the most obvious way to make him distinct from Hydra to Bucky)
> 
> Svyazist - Signalman/Communications engineer (replacement for "mechanic"; Bucky's following Tony's example and uses something that refers to his position of power/respect)
> 
> Kak vy dumayete chto vy delayete - What do you think you are doing?
> 
> Mogu ya? - May I?
> 
> Moye krasivoye solntse, tebe bol'no? - My beautiful sun, does it hurt?
> 
> Ya skuchal po tebe - I missed you
> 
> Vy gotovy pereprogrammirovat? - Are you ready to reprogram?


End file.
